1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to protecting a motherboard, and more particularly, to preventing the burning or overheating of a motherboard due to the installation of a higher voltage card.
2. Background of the Invention
Motherboards commonly have an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) slot, which is a standard for a display adapter interface commonly used for fast communication between the motherboard of a computer and a graphics card. Since its inception, AGP has progressed in technology from 2× speed to 4× speed, and now to 8× speed. The working voltage of the AGP 2× graphics card is 3.3 Volts DC, while the working voltage of the AGP 4× graphics card is 1.5 Volts DC. However, the AGP slot does not have a physical connection interface that distinguishes between 2× and 4× cards, so it does not protect against inserting an AGP card into the wrong slot. Hence, if a user plugs an AGP 2× graphics card into an AGP slot and then powers on the computer, the 3.3 Volts of DC power of the AGP 2× graphic card will enter into the chipset of the motherboard, whose working voltage is 1.5 Volts, via the AGP slot. The result may be to burn the motherboard and thus cause financial loss to the user.
Therefore, it is desirable to protect the chipset of a motherboard when a user plugs an AGP 2× graphics card into an AGP slot and powers on the computer.